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Assessing catchment-scale spatial and temporal patterns of groundwater and stream salinity

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Abstract

Understanding catchment-scale patterns of groundwater and stream salinity are important in land- and water-salinity management. A large-scale assessment of groundwater and stream data was undertaken in the eastern Mt Lofty Ranges of South Australia using geographical information systems (GIS), regional scale hydrologic data, hydrograph separation and hydrochemical techniques. Results of the study show: (1) salts were mostly of marine origin (75%), while sulfate and bicarbonate from mineral weathering comprised most of the remainder, (2) elevated groundwater salinities and stable water isotopic compositions similar to mean rainfall indicated that plant transpiration was the primary salt accumulation mechanism, (3) key factors explaining groundwater salinity were geology and rainfall, with overall catchment salinity inversely proportional to average annual rainfall, and groundwater salinity ‘hotspots’ (EC >8 mS/cm) associated with geological formations comprising sulfidic marine siltstones and shales, (4) shallow groundwater correlated with elevated stream salinity, implying that baseflow contributed to stream salt loads, with most of the annual salt load (estimated to be 24,500 tonnes) occurring in winter when baseflow volume was highest. Salt-load analysis using stream data could be a practical, low-cost technique to rapidly target the investigation of problem areas within a catchment.

Résumé

Comprendre les mécanismes de la salinité des nappes et des rivières, à l’échelle des bassins-versants, est important pour la gestion de la salinité des sols et de l’eau. Une étude à grande échelle de l’eau souterraine et des cours d’eau a été menée dans la partie Est des Mount Lofty Ranges dans le Sud de l’Australie, au moyen d’un système d’information géographique (SIG), des données hydrologiques régionales, la séparation des hydrographes et des techniques hydrochimiques. Les résultats de l’étude montrent : (i) que les sels sont essentiellement d’origine marine (75%), tandis que les sulfates et les bicarbonates provenant de l’altération minérale comprendraient surtout les « soldes », (ii) la salinité élevée dans les eaux souterraines et la composition isotopique stable similaire à celle des eaux de pluie, indiquent que la transpiration des plantes fut le mécanisme primaire de l’accumulation du sel, (iii) les facteurs clés expliquant la salinité de l’eau souterraine où la géologie et l’eau de pluie, et une salinité globale inversement proportionnelle à la pluie moyenne annuelle, des spots de salinité (Conductivité > 8 mS/cm) associés à des formations géologiques comprenant des silts compacts et des shales marins et sulfurés, (iv) les nappes phréatiques corrélées avec une salinité des cours d’eau élevée, impliquant de fait la contribution des écoulements de base à la charge en sel des cours d’eau, avec une charge maximum annuelle en hiver (estimée à 24 500 tonnes) lorsque l’écoulement de base devient plus important. L’analyse des charges en sel utilisant les données des rivières pourrait s’avérer être une technique pratique et peu coûteuse pour rapidement pointé la bonne investigation à entreprendre dans les zones à problèmes d’un bassin-versant.

Resumen

El conocimiento a escala de cuenca de los patrones de salinidad de agua fluvial y subterránea son importantes para la gestión de la salinidad del agua y suelo. Se ha llevado a cabo una evaluación en gran escala de datos de agua de río y agua subterránea en las cordilleras del Monte Lofty del sur de Australia utilizando un Sistema de Información Geográfico (SIG), datos hidrológicos de escala regional, y técnicas hidroquímicas y de separación de hidrogramas. Los resultados del estudio son los siguientes: (1) el 75% de las sales son de origen marino mientras que el restante 25% comprenden sulfato y bicarbonato derivados de intemperismo mineral, (2) las elevadas salinidades del agua subterránea y las composiciones de isótopos estables similares a la composición media de la lluvia indican que el principal mecanismo primario de acumulación de sal es la transpiración de las plantas, (3) los factores clave que explican la salinidad del agua subterránea son geología y lluvia, con una salinidad promedio para la cuenca en proporción inversa al promedio anual de lluvia, y puntos anómalos de salinidad de agua subterránea (CE >8 mS/cm) asociados con formaciones geológicas compuestas de lutitas y lodolitas marinas sulfurosas, (4) agua subterránea somera correlacionada con salinidad elevada en agua de río, lo que implica que el flujo de base contribuye cargas saladas al río, con gran parte de la carga salada anual (estimada en 24,500 tons) ocurriendo en invierno cuando el volumen de flujo base es más elevado. Los análisis de la carga salada en base a datos de río puede ser una técnica práctica y de bajo costo para orientar rápidamente la investigación de áreas problemáticas dentro de una cuenca.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia

    David L. Poulsen, Craig T. Simmons & Corinne Le Galle La Salle

  2. CSIRO Land and Water and CRC LEME, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia

    Jim W. Cox

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  1. David L. Poulsen
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  2. Craig T. Simmons
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  3. Corinne Le Galle La Salle
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  4. Jim W. Cox
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Correspondence to Craig T. Simmons.

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Poulsen, D.L., Simmons, C.T., Le Galle La Salle, C. et al. Assessing catchment-scale spatial and temporal patterns of groundwater and stream salinity. Hydrogeol J 14, 1339–1359 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-006-0065-9

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